It occured to me this morning that I'd not taken the Gios out for a spin all year and that it might be the last chance before autumn sets in....

So off I set, after changing the cleats on my adidas Eddy Mercxx shoes to some proper "toeclip cleats" I'd acquired since last time I was out.

Idea was to ride a couple of hours so I didn't don the usual Assos shorts and wotnot,instead opting for a pair of well-worn shorts with a less than technically advanced chammy.

I find myself 2 hours on without the usual sore hands and arse that seem to go with rides over 2 hours these days. So I decide to go on a bit further.

Get home 5 hours after leaving and despite hitting the point of "bonk" and stopping for a bramble picking session some 3 hours previously, find myself feeling better than on any bike ride this year.

What was different? Tyres should have been worse as I was running anti-puncture strips. Riding position is identical to all my other road bikes. Gears should be worse as it was a hilly ride in places yet I found myself content with 43-21 lowest gear where I normally ride 34-25.

And the bike performed flawlessly.

This set me wondering - my expectations of the machine were less. So my reactions seemed to compensate. I shifted less. I relaxed more. I enjoyed myself more. I'm not usually dogmatic about retro vs. modern. But today was one of those days when you feel progress is a step backwards.....

I've recently completed nearly 500 miles around California on an old Trek 1000 which weighed a ton. It was kitted out with Tiagra and was really looking worryingly old. However, it performed flawlessly and stood up well to the abuse I threw at it. The only real downside was that the bars were narrow and the hoods strangely shaped making it uncomfortable over around 4 hours.

As long as they get used old bikes are just as good as new ones, but 'marketing' makes us think we need newer and better equipment all the time.

I went out a couple of weeks ago on my Duralinox (which I REALLY like!) and it was on of those - what I call - 'hot knife through butter' mornings. The gears rolled round beautifully, I danced out of the saddle up the short rises, the indexed down tube shifters worked in an instance when I needed them, the tyres 'swished' on the road. 30+ miles in less than 2 hours without much apparent effort - a perfect ride.

It would still have been good on my modern Bianchi - but not as satisfying!

I bought an old late 70s steel frame (I think its a Raleigh but never been able to identify it - lovely, 531 double butted, campag dropouts, Cinelli bars, 105's, and Camapag Super record chainset) and i LOVE it.

Did 30 miles along the coast at the weekend, and it performed like a dream. I run friction gearing but had no slips or misses, changed up and down smoothly as you like. Apart from nearly hitting a old guy who just walked right out in front of me and just getting out of SPDs in time, it was fab.

I have a Boardman comp too. That's comparable to driving a 90s Ford Focus whereas my retro steed is akin to powering along in a late 70s Audi.

I know next to nothing about sports bicycles but I suspect you are right and it's because modern bicycles are set up to be closer to aggressive a$$-in-the-air racers; perfect for pro riders but hideously uncomfortable for normal human beings.

Most people seem to go for the sportiest high-tech looking bikes whether they are practical or not.

My cheap, homebrew 10 year old steel CX bike did well yesterday against some very modern and expensive machinery. I've been putting in a lot of miles on my road bike and set up my CX bike almost exactly the same (seat a little lower) so it fits me well.

It's a great feeling powering past a Kona Jake or a Planet X on an antique!

agreed. my p7 is a hunk of s***. the front wheel doesnt spin more then a few rounds the headset is notchy, the stem/handlebar combo creaks, the brake levers are crap and its got one gear. but its probably my most fun bike, im more comfortable cornering on it at speed then i am with my $8k litespeed. i really should do it up nicely.

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